Not Easily Forgotten

There are two types of urban villages in urban design. One is the slum type mostly associated with major cities in China. The other idea is a fairly new one in terms of urban planning featuring ample safe and highly encouraged pedestrian access over automobile dependence, a community able to support itself more than relying on a greater surrounding municipality, and strong community organization. The latter concept of the urban village been around since the late 80’s, and is seen by some as being highly progressive.

What; however, do you make of a district in any city that has at least most of the characteristics of an urban village but has been around since the late 1800’s, and has succeeded in not changing much since the end of World War II (I know that some would beg to differ on that in regards to Locke Street)? Perhaps “ahead of its time” is a fitting description.

8 thoughts on “Not Easily Forgotten”

Thank you, Antonia. After passing through the street numerous times at different times of the day, I figured out the best way to capture it in the right high contrast light that I like without actually being in the street. That turned out to be fairly early in the morning in late summer. That was the easy part.

Much of the top of the Niagara escarpment in Hamilton, where I shot this from, is inaccessible due to unsafe eroding terrain and private property ownership. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to get to the part of the mountain I needed in order to take full advantage of the sunrays and perspective at that time period. Additionally, the view from the accessible parts of the escarpment edge can be heavily obscured by trees. I lucked out on this effort.